HE has out-managed the opposition, inside and outside the organization. Bobby Valentine has made his mark in this post-season and he is riding the wave – even with last night’s predictable 8-2 loss to the Cardinals.

Now Fred Wilpon insists that the Mets will keep their manager. “We’re going to do it,” the Mets’ co-owner last night told The Post’s Andrew Marchand.

Isn’t it great that after four full years of managing the team, the big shots in the organization are now figuring out that Bobby Valentine can manage with the best of them.

Just to make sure, maybe Mets ownership and those advising ownership – read Steve Phillips – should make another trek to the Wharton School of Business. Maybe they need some input from a college kid with a website just to be sure they are making the right decision.

Maybe the Mets winning the first two games in the NLCS on the other team’s field and making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in their existence are not conclusive evidence.

The bottom line here is that Valentine has always managed a great game on the field. All his players don’t love him, but come the last two Octobers the Mets have been at the top of their game.

Sure, the easy decision last night would have been to go with lefty Glendon Rusch, but Valentine stuck with his guy Rick Reed and now the Mets’ advantage in the series has been sliced to 2-1.

It was getting too easy for the Mets. They need to walk the razor. There is a brotherhood about the Mets that goes beyond most teams. They work together and Valentine has fostered that togetherness, combined with the right mix of players delivered by Phillips.

Valentine is not intimidated by New York and the media like the two other top managers the Mets have faced in the post-season – Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa. Before the series started La Russa was asked about the Mets’ weaknesses and he said the only weakness he could see was having to deal with the New York media. La Russa is too smart to be making comments like that.

BobbyV can deal and duel with the multitude of media. That’s a big piece of the puzzle here in New York. And don’t think that Valentine can’t do the same in Los Angeles. If he decides to blow off the Mets after the post-season he knows he will be a perfect fit in La-La Land and could have even more power in personnel decisions with the Dodgers, a team desperate to correct its problems.

Valentine made an interesting comment before the game when he was asked about rookie Timo Perez. “It’s hard to think we didn’t call him up sooner, knowing he has the kind of ability and translate it into a contribution in the post-season,” Valentine said.

He has played his cards right all season. He’s managed the team to the NLCS for the second straight year. The Mets are now more exciting than the Yankees and in the battle of New York, that is a huge victory for Wilpon & Co.

From a baseball perspective, the best thing Valentine has done – and, of course, major credit goes to pitching coach Dave Wallace – is to get the rotation in order for the post-season. Only twice in seven games have the starters faltered this post-season: Mike Hampton in Game 1 of the playoffs and Reed yesterday. After five straight dramatic wins, you just knew the Mets would stumble.

“The idea of it being contagious says that the next day’s pitcher takes particular notice to the game prior to his start,” Valentine said of his pitchers. “If there’s a consistent pitcher the day before, there are certain things that he can zoom in on to figure out how his style will, in fact, be applicable when he’s pitching. So a guy pitches a good game and you get to see a lot of the sameness during the game as you’re scouting for the next game. I think you then have a little edge, rather than a lot of relief pitchers and different styles in and out.”

In essence, it’s like the great teams of old – Koufax’s Dodgers, Whitey’s Yankees and Gibson’s Cardinals. Or Maddux’s Braves – until this post-season.

That is all part of plan. The Mets are used to getting good pitching performances. The players are comfortable with one another and how they will be used. How Valentine utilizes his whole roster is a plus. Valentine’s style is not a mystery to his team. It’s really quite simple to understand. Considering all that, it’s rather Amazin’ that’s it has taken management and ownership so long to figure it all out.